Nearpod or Pear Deck?

If you are getting comfortable with your classroom set of  Chromebooks or iPads and are ready for the next step, Nearpod and Peardeck are waiting for you. No longer do you need to present a lesson on your whiteboard and then have students complete the related assignments on their devices. Nearpod and Peardeck allow you to connect with your students in innovative ways. These powerful, web-based tools allow teachers to present information to the whole group or individuals. Then students show their understanding through quizzes, drawings or responses that are sent back to the teacher during the lesson.

APS Girl's Tech Camp Was Awesome!

Girl's Tech Camp Students Listening to Keynote Speaker, Nancy Felix of DaVita, Inc.

The ladies of our Ed Tech department, were fortunate to be able to help with the Aurora Public Schools Girl's Tech Camp last week. This empowering and educational event was hosted by APS Information Technology and Educational Technology. Each middle school and K-8 school was invited to send one teacher and five 6th grade girls to this one-day camp.  If given the opportunity, which of the events would you and your students have liked to participate in?

Chromebooks: An Educator's Perspective on Set-Up and Procedures

Our guest blogger is +Ellen Lewis, an 8th Grade Literacy teacher who has been with APS for a little over 10 years and teaching for 7 at East Middle School.  She enjoys engaging students and staff in personalized, blended learning opportunities.  Click here to connect with her on our district's G+.

Just received your first set of classroom Chromebooks?  Do you want to know how to make sure this is a terrific experience rather than a disaster?  The difference between the two experiences comes down to; 1) how you set up of the Chromebooks, and 2) classroom procedures implemented. 

Padlet for Instruction

Want to increase creative and innovative practices in your instruction?  Check out this great free tool called Padlet.  Padlet is an incredibly easy, web-based tool that teachers can use for free in any instructional environment.  Padlet offers a platform where teachers and students can post information, ideas, or create projects.  The basic structure of Padlet is a digital "wall" where anyone who has the URL for that "wall" can post based on the settings.  If you're looking to enhance creativity and innovative practices in your instruction, consider using Padlet as an instructional tool. Click HERE to check it out now or watch this quick video that showcases some of Padlet's features for instruction.

Overcoming Writer's Block

Ever struggle with students saying that they don’t know what to write? They know they have the story in their head, but they are struggling to get it down on their google doc. We can debate whether or not "writer's block" is real, but that debate won't change the fact that some of your students are struggling to get started and you really, really want/need them to start writing.

Or maybe they know what they want to write, but the typing process is so painfully slow that they get frustrated and quit? While typing skills are important and should be worked on in context, sometimes you just want all of your students to have their writing to work on so that they can start the real learning of revision, receiving feedback, and more revision.

iPads as a Teacher Tool

So, you’ve got a brand new iPad...or maybe it’s not brand new, but you’re not sure how you could use it in your classroom. Your iPad can be a transformative tool in your classroom: it can free you from your whiteboard, free you from your laptop during lessons, take pictures of student work and project them instantly and then allow you or a student to annotate the work from anywhere in the room.

iPads a great mobile devices for monitoring notes - not only can you create handwritten notes, but you can add pictures, annotate on the pictures, and quickly send the file to cloud storage such as Evernote, Dropbox, or an email account. The recording features allow you to capture video or audio in your classroom directly, or even create a tutorial video to share with students who are absent. Your iPad combined with a video you’ve created is a great tool to put in front of a group of students that might need to hear a lesson again for reinforcement.

Let's empower APS students to design school & campus public spaces!

http://www.minecraftforum.net/forums/show-your-creation/screenshots/1602930-chroma-high-school

I like to tell those close to me how Minecraft empowers people to change the world, which usually leads to eye rolling and the occasional snarky remark to get a life as it's just a video game. In reality though, it is so much more than a video game - I posit that it is a tool to connect people to collaborate and create for fun, but also for positively impacting communities.